MICROSOFT 365 GOVERNANCE
Know who owns your Microsoft 365 environment—and what leadership still needs to verify.
Get an independent view of tenant ownership, administrator access, identity controls, collaboration, vendor responsibility, licensing questions, and AI readiness—without being sold Microsoft licenses, managed services, or a provider change.
Request Consultation AvailabilityWe'll confirm fit and provide secure scheduling and payment options before requesting supporting materials.
Helpful to have ready: a high-level description of your Microsoft 365 support model, key providers, known concerns, licensing questions, and any existing policies or risk documentation. Please do not send passwords, credentials, tenant identifiers, account numbers, client personal information, security logs, or other sensitive information through the website form.
Led by Sterling Unan, CISSP — 25+ years in financial-services technology and operations · Independent, product-neutral advisory
Technology & Cyber Risk Consultation
$495 fixed fee · 60–90 minutes
A leadership-level diagnostic—not a Microsoft 365 configuration audit or technical implementation.
A confidential consultation for leaders who need a clearer view of Microsoft 365 ownership, access, security, collaboration, licensing questions, AI readiness, vendor responsibility, and cyber risk.
YOUR CONSULTATION INCLUDES:
- A focused 60–90 minute leadership-level discussion
- An immediate Technology & Cyber Risk Snapshot
- A concise written Consultation Report within three business days
- Practical direction that can stand on its own
No obligation to change providers, purchase a broader review, or enter an ongoing advisory arrangement.
Beech Tree does not sell Microsoft licenses, managed IT services, or cybersecurity tools.
COMMON MICROSOFT 365 CONCERNS
Not sure who controls your tenant—or whether your Microsoft 365 setup is supporting the business?
Many organizations seek independent guidance after an administrator leaves, an MSP relationship changes, a suspicious email is reported, MFA or access questions arise, files are shared too broadly, a licensing renewal approaches, or leadership is asked whether Microsoft Copilot can be used safely. The consultation helps leadership clarify ownership, vendor responsibilities, questions requiring verification, and what should be decided next.
It is not a Microsoft 365 configuration review or implementation service. It is an independent starting point for deciding what should be verified, documented, improved, or escalated.
- Tenant ownership, emergency administrator access, and privileged-role questions
- MFA, identity, email-security, device-access, and offboarding accountability
- File sharing, SharePoint, Teams, and collaboration-governance questions
- Licensing, vendor responsibility, Microsoft Copilot, and AI-readiness questions
MICROSOFT 365 GOVERNANCE CHECKLIST
7 Questions Every Organization Should Be Able to Answer About Microsoft 365
If any of these questions are unclear, your organization has a gap worth addressing.
Not sure how your organization would answer these questions? That is exactly what a Technology & Cyber Risk Consultation is designed to address.
Request Consultation AvailabilityYour current MSP, Microsoft 365 partner, and internal IT team remain part of the solution. The consultation gives leadership clearer questions, ownership, and next steps.
WHAT YOU RECEIVE
What you receive
During the consultation
- A focused 60–90 minute leadership-level discussion
- An immediate Technology & Cyber Risk Snapshot
- Key Microsoft 365 governance, accountability, access, and vendor questions requiring verification
- Practical questions to take back to MSPs, Microsoft 365 partners, cybersecurity providers, and internal IT teams
Within three business days
- A concise written Consultation Report
- A prioritized summary of observations and recommended next steps
- A clearer distinction between what is known, what needs verification, and what leadership should decide
- Practical direction that can stand on its own
- A leadership-ready summary of priorities, ownership questions, vendor follow-ups, and recommended next steps
This is independent technology and risk-management guidance—not a Microsoft 365 configuration audit, license true-up, technical implementation, penetration test, legal or regulatory opinion, formal compliance certification, product proposal, or managed-services sales conversation.
THE WHOLE PICTURE
Your Microsoft 365 provider is not your Microsoft 365 strategy.
Your MSP, Microsoft 365 partner, Microsoft, cybersecurity provider, identity tools, backup provider, and business applications may each manage an important part of the environment. But no individual vendor owns the whole picture. Leadership remains responsible for understanding tenant ownership, access, data protection, collaboration, licensing, AI readiness, continuity, and vendor accountability together.
Managed IT provider
Devices, support, selected security operations, and day-to-day technology support.
Microsoft 365 and cloud platforms
Identity, email, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, applications, billing, domains, and service availability.
Security, backup, identity, and business-application vendors
Email security, identity tools, endpoint protection, backup, line-of-business applications, Microsoft 365 support, and supporting services.
Your organization
Leadership, governance, tenant ownership, data protection, licensing decisions, AI readiness, risk decisions, and accountability.
This becomes more important as organizations adopt more cloud services, support remote or hybrid work, rely on external administrators, use mobile and personal devices, share information externally, and evaluate Microsoft Copilot or other AI tools. The goal is not to manage every technical detail internally. It is to know the right questions, assign ownership clearly, and make informed decisions.
Microsoft 365 Risk Extends Beyond Email
Microsoft 365 affects identity, email, files, collaboration, device access, external sharing, vendor administration, client or customer communication, and AI access to organizational information. Beech Tree's advisory covers the full operating environment—not just email settings.
INDEPENDENCE
Independent advice. Practical direction.
Independent perspective
Beech Tree does not sell Microsoft licenses, Microsoft 365 managed services, cybersecurity tools, or vendor contracts. Recommendations are not shaped by license quotas, implementation revenue, managed-services revenue, or vendor referral fees.
Built for leadership
The consultation is designed for owners, executives, managing partners, administrators, and other decision-makers who need a clearer view of Microsoft 365 accountability, risk, and business impact.
Actionable without pressure
The consultation stands on its own. There is no requirement to change providers, purchase a broader review, or enter an ongoing advisory arrangement.
EXPERIENCE
Experience that connects Microsoft 365 governance to leadership decisions.
Sterling Unan, CISSP, brings more than 40 years of technology and cybersecurity experience, including more than 25 years supporting financial-services technology and operations. Beech Tree helps leadership teams translate technical complexity into practical questions, clearer accountability, and decisions that fit the organization's operating reality.
Led by Sterling Unan, CISSP, with 25+ years in financial-services technology and operations and more than 40 years of technology and cybersecurity experience.
Financial Services Technology & Operations
Experience supporting technology leadership, security, vendor relationships, business continuity, and the operational systems that support investment and client-service functions.
Microsoft 365 Governance Context
Practical understanding of tenant ownership, identity, access, administrator accountability, collaboration, data handling, cloud-vendor dependencies, and the operational consequences of configuration and ownership gaps.
Cybersecurity, Governance & Resilience
CISSP-led cybersecurity experience, including identity security, Microsoft 365 governance, vendor oversight, backup and recovery, incident readiness, and business-continuity planning.
Independent Advisory Discipline
Experience improving vendor accountability, evaluating technology services, reducing unnecessary spend, and giving leadership practical information for better decisions.
Led by Sterling Unan, CISSP, with 25+ years in financial-services technology and operations and more than 40 years of technology and cybersecurity experience.
BROADER REVIEW OPTION
If a deeper review is needed
$495 Consultation
A focused, fixed-fee conversation that gives you immediate clarity on Microsoft 365 ownership, access, security, collaboration, vendor-accountability, licensing, and AI-readiness questions. It includes your immediate Technology & Cyber Risk Snapshot and a written Consultation Report within three business days.
Technology & Cyber Risk Review
A comprehensive, independently scoped review of the organization's technology and cybersecurity environment. Separately scoped and priced based on organizational size, Microsoft 365 complexity, vendor relationships, supporting systems, and the questions leadership needs answered.
Some organizations may decide they need a broader independent review after the consultation. If so, Beech Tree can discuss a separately scoped engagement focused on tenant ownership, vendor relationships, cybersecurity governance, identity, access, collaboration, data protection, continuity, and operational resilience.
The initial consultation stands on its own. A deeper review is discussed only when leadership wants additional evidence, broader environmental visibility, or more detailed vendor-accountability analysis.
A full review typically includes:
- Complete technology-environment assessment
- Microsoft 365 tenant ownership and administrator-access review
- Vendor accountability and contract review
- Identity, MFA, conditional-access, and access-control review
- Collaboration, sharing, data-protection, and retention governance review
- Backup, recovery, and business-continuity readiness
- Microsoft Copilot and AI-adoption, policy, and data-protection review
- Technology governance and strategic alignment
Full reviews are separately scoped and priced after the initial consultation, only when additional detail would be useful to the organization.
What a Full Review Includes
- Written findings report with prioritized recommendations
- Vendor-accountability matrix for leadership
- Microsoft 365 governance and technology-risk summary for leadership
- Practical plan with vendor questions and next steps
EXAMPLE FINDING
Example finding
EXAMPLE: A SMALL ORGANIZATION
- The managed IT provider held administrator access to the organization's Microsoft 365 tenant, including email, SharePoint, Teams, and user administration. Leadership had not confirmed whether it held emergency administrative access independent of the provider.
- The organization did not maintain a current inventory of Global Administrator, privileged, delegated, and vendor accounts, or a documented process for regularly reviewing and removing unnecessary access.
- Multi-factor authentication was not consistently enforced for all administrative and remote access. The IT provider confirmed MFA was enabled broadly, but leadership had not independently verified the scope, exceptions, or configuration.
- External sharing, guest access, and collaboration settings were managed by the IT provider, but leadership did not have a documented view of how Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, and client/customer information-sharing practices were governed.
- The organization was considering Microsoft Copilot but had not assessed whether existing permissions, file-sharing practices, sensitive-information handling, and AI-use expectations were ready for broader deployment.
Why it mattered:
Identity, email, collaboration, sensitive information, and administrator control were exposed to avoidable operational and cybersecurity risk. The concern was not that the provider was acting improperly—it was that leadership could not independently verify or document tenant ownership, access, configuration accountability, and data-sharing governance in several critical areas.
Practical next steps:
Document tenant ownership and establish emergency administrative access independent of the provider. Maintain and review privileged and vendor accounts regularly. Confirm MFA enforcement scope and exceptions. Document sharing and guest-access expectations. Establish governance questions and data-access criteria before expanding Microsoft Copilot or other AI use.
Illustrative example based on common patterns. The Snapshot distinguishes what is known, what is reported by leadership, what requires vendor confirmation, and what may warrant a separately scoped review. Details are generalized and do not describe a specific client engagement.
READY TO CLARIFY YOUR MICROSOFT 365 OWNERSHIP AND ACCOUNTABILITY?
Start with a focused, independent conversation.
Tell us the Microsoft 365, identity, access, collaboration, vendor, licensing, or AI-readiness question your organization needs to answer—whether it involves administrator access, MFA, external sharing, a provider change, licensing questions, Microsoft Copilot, or another concern. We will confirm fit and provide secure scheduling and payment options before requesting any supporting materials.
$495 fixed fee · 60–90 minutes · Payment is collected when scheduling · No recurring contract
What happens next
- Request consultation availability
- Receive a secure scheduling and payment link
- Meet confidentially for 60–90 minutes
- Receive your Technology & Cyber Risk Snapshot immediately after the consultation
- Receive a written Consultation Report within three business days
A useful starting point
You do not need a complete Microsoft 365 inventory before booking. Come prepared to describe your current support model, key providers, known concerns, licensing questions, access or sharing issues, and any upcoming provider changes, renewals, security requirements, or AI decisions. The consultation will help identify what should be verified next.
The initial conversation can proceed without documents. If high-level supporting materials would be useful after scheduling, Beech Tree will provide secure instructions. Do not transmit passwords, credentials, tenant identifiers, account numbers, client personal information, security logs, or other sensitive information through the website form or unsecured email.
You do not need to change your MSP, Microsoft 365 partner, or other providers to work with Beech Tree. The consultation helps leadership understand the current environment, ask stronger questions, and make more informed decisions with existing vendors.
Immediate Deliverable: Your Technology & Cyber Risk Snapshot
At the end of your consultation, you receive an immediate Snapshot summarizing priorities, risks, options, and vendor questions. The Snapshot distinguishes what is known, what is reported, what requires vendor confirmation, and what may warrant a separately scoped review. Your written Consultation Report is delivered within three business days after the consultation.
Request Consultation Availability
Tell us a little about your organization and the Microsoft 365 or technology question you are trying to answer. We will confirm fit, scheduling options, and secure next steps.
INDEPENDENT TECHNOLOGY & CYBER RISK ADVISOR
Sterling Unan, CISSP, brings more than 25 years of direct experience in hedge fund technology and operations, including technology leadership, security, vendor relationships, business continuity, and the operational systems that support investment and client-service functions.
Sterling Unan, CISSP · Founder, Beech Tree Technology Advisors · 25+ years in hedge fund technology & operations